The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
by JCI
Summary: If Austin Tucker wasn't the definition of everything she despised, pretending to be one thing while he was in fact another, she might actually like the guy. A redux of Season 2, Ep.2: "All or Nothing" #1 in the "Chasing Glory" Universe


"Kaylie, may I have your autograph, s'il vous plaît?" the French fan begged, racing up to Kaylie as they took their luggage from the taxi.

Kaylie hoisted her gym bag over her shoulder and shook her brown hair out of her eyes before smiling and taking the proffered pen and paper, "Yeah, sure."

Payson fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before Lauren, managing a semi-sympathetic tone said, "Must be tough, that used to be you, right?"

She sighed as Lauren stepped forward towards the fan, confidently asking the girl if she'd like her autograph as well and was flat out refused.

It was true, after all. Last year she'd been the National silver medalist, but it was the year after the Olympics and the spotlight was definitely off the sport in general, so being number two in the country just was not as big a deal as it was half way through the Olympic cycle. That didn't mean she hadn't gotten her fair share of attention. She'd simply ignored it, at least as much as possible. The cameras and fans, autograph seekers and endorsements, she'd viewed them all as distractions, roadblocks even to her eventual goal. An Olympic gold medal.

"Austin Tucker," Emily's voice rang in through her thoughts, "didn't he say he won Worlds with the worst hang over of his life?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that was his Olympic gold medal," Lauren added, as if she was privy to some information from the man himself.

Payson just shook her head, wondering if she should fill them in. It hadn't been his World Championship or his Olympic Gold medal or even last year's Nationals. The story was complete bull, though she was one of the few who knew the truth. And then she decided against it. None of them knew that she and the current Olympic, World and National champion were acquainted and they didn't need to know it either.

"What does it even matter," she said, "he treats gymnastics like a joke and all he cares about is partying and hanging out with celebrities."

She turned to follow Emily and Lauren into the hotel, when Kaylie's voice drew her attention, "You've gotta be kidding me," the current National champion said as shrieks went up in the crowd of fans gathered and they raced to get his autograph, quickly surrounding him.

"Wow, we are staying at the same hotel as Austin Tucker," Emily said, the awe clear as day in her voice and Payson held back the urge to roll her eyes. Austin's accomplishments were something to be admired, but the way he went about it, it drove her crazy.

"We should say, hi," Kaylie said, her tone casual, but Payson knew it was certainly not the case. It was the tenor Kaylie used whenever she was talking about a boy she was interested in, dismissive and yet obviously not.

"You know him?" Emily asked, clearly hopeful that was the case.

Kaylie looked over at her and shot her a look straight out of the Ronnie Cruz playbook, condescending, but lovable all at the same time, "We are on the national team, I think he knows who we are."

Payson was going to warn Kaylie that it was unlikely he would, especially outside the context of the gym. That Austin wasn't exactly up on the world of women's gymnastics and that she'd likely be embarrassed, but the tiny part of her that still resented Kaylie's win, that still wished it had been her victory in Boston suddenly reared its ugly head. So instead of stopping her, she simply bit her lip, fighting the grin forming and extend a hand towards Austin, indicating the path Kaylie should take.

She watched Kaylie stumble through an introduction until Austin, gallant as ever, came to her rescue and supplied it for her, "Where do you want me to sign?" he asked

Payson felt the laugh bubble up into her chest and she fought it down, especially as she saw Lauren and Emily's shoulders hitch in response to Austin's obliviousness.

She watched silently as Austin lifted his ever present Kobalt's from his eyes and took a closer look at Kaylie as she insisted that she wasn't a fan of his, but still couldn't find the words to introduce herself properly. So again, completely unaware that he was suppose to recognize his counterpart, he invited her to a party that night and as Kaylie stumbled through her rejection with an ever so convincing, "I have plans." Payson couldn't help it, she slapped her hand against her forehead in frustration.

Emily and Lauren were giggling like idiots and she managed to control herself until Lauren said, "That was priceless,"

"Wow," she scoffed as Kaylie blushed and kept her head down, grabbing her arm and pushing her towards the hotel.

She made sure to keep her eyes away from the direction they'd come from, sure that Austin was following their hasty retreat, especially with the way he'd been ogling Kaylie.

It wasn't until later that night as they all got ready for bed that the topic came up again.

"I still can't believe that jerk acted like he didn't know me – us," Kaylie said, hastily correcting her slip.

"Austin Tucker – undercover," Emily joked, fiddling with her sunglasses, sending Kaylie a smoldering stare.

Payson rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure he wasn't acting." She smiled slightly to herself as she finished braiding her hair.

In fact she knew he wasn't acting. She'd only met Austin a couple of times and as oblivious as people accused her of being at times, he definitely took the cake. It wasn't that he didn't care about his gymnastics or the sport; it's that he _pretended_ not to care and it drove her absolutely insane. What was so bad about caring?

She rolled her eyes at some stupid comment Lauren made, clearly to get a rise out of Emily and then looked up as Kaylie returned with the bucket of ice, an odd expression on her face, the same one in fact that had appeared when Austin flummoxed her in front of the hotel that morning.

Payson sighed, fatigue suddenly overtaking her. "I'm gonna go to bed," she said, picking up her card key and turning to Kaylie. "You coming?" she asked.

"In a little while," Kaylie mumbled, sitting back down on Lauren's bed, staring into space.

She left the room quickly and made her way down the hallway towards the elevator bay only to look up and see Austin Tucker, coming from the other direction in what looked like a bit of a hurry, pocketing what looked like his cell phone.

It was unavoidable. The hallways in the hotel were small and unlike earlier when there'd been a crowd of screaming girls around him, it was just him and her. His face lit up with recognition.

"Payson Keeler," he said, his trademark grin spreading across his face. "I just saw one of your Rock Rebel friends, green face, bathrobe, really uptight."

"Austin Tucker," she mocked lightly and nodded, "That would have been Kaylie."

He smirked, "Kaylie Cruz, Women's National Champion, as she so kindly informed me."

Payson snorted. That's why Kaylie had looked so put out when she returned from the ice machine. At least she'd gotten over her stuttering problem and spoken to him this time. "And where are you headed to tonight?"

"A party," he said simply with a shrug. "I got all the way to the lobby and I realized I left my cell phone in my room. My date's waiting in the car."

"Let me guess, five nine, stick thin, bored expression?" Payson said, grinning at him crookedly.

"You know me so well," Austin said, pressing the button, calling for the elevator. "I don't suppose you'd like to join us? My date, she's nice on the eyes, but not exactly the world's greatest conversationalist. I could use a little of your biting wit to get me through tonight."

Payson rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Thanks, but I'll pass," she said, grinning sarcastically.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" he asked as the elevator arrived and they both stepped onto it.

"Petitioning on to the national team," she said pressing her floor number, feeling a chill run through her as the cold floor of the elevator seeped through her socks.

He nodded, "Wow, that was…fast." His surprise was clear as was the small hint of disapproval.

Her eyes flew to his and she could see not his usual smirk or even an ironic grin, but actual seriousness, something he wasn't known for and that made her all the more unsure of herself. "Not you too," she muttered.

Austin raised a hand in surrender, "Hey, if you're ready, you're ready."

"I'm ready," she assured him, though she didn't know why she felt the need to do so. He just nodded and they slipped into silence.

The elevator slid to a smooth stop and the doors opened at her floor.

"Night Austin," she said, getting off quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid his reply.

"Just remember what I told you once, Keeler. Smile more, the judges love that."

The doors closed on him and she walked quickly down the hallway to her room, annoyed that he'd been able to get to her.

She wouldn't call Austin Tucker a friend of hers. He was more a casual acquaintance than anything else and an antagonistic one at that, though if you asked him, he probably thought she found him charming and helpful and not a complete idiot.

They met over a year before, after she'd won silver at Nationals, coming in second to Kelly Parker for the first time in their careers. When they'd both been on the junior circuit Payson had dominated Kelly over and over again in every competition, but a silly continuity mistake on her beam routine had cost her a tenth of a point and the gold medal. Her dreams of a national championship would have to wait another year.

Payson snorted to herself as she entered her hotel room and tossed her key on the vanity table. Two years was more like it. She hadn't known then that the tiny pain in her lower back was a bulging disk, nor that it would be the cause of a near career ending injury that would set her back even further.

_Stop thinking like that, Payson. It doesn't matter what Sasha thinks or what Austin Tucker thinks. You're back and you're going to be better than ever. You're going to Worlds and you're going to the Olympics and nothing is going to stand in your way._

She threw herself onto her bed and sighed, closing her eyes, visualizing her tumbling passes on floor. She still hadn't nailed the double pike she'd been hoping to showcase, but it wasn't compulsory so she wasn't all that concerned about it. There was plenty of time to get it ready before Worlds.

"_You should have smiled more. The judges really love that. They eat it up actually," Austin said, approaching her dressed to the nines in what was likely a designer suit, his gold medal hanging around his neck._

_She clasped her hand around her unsatisfying silver medal and sighed, "I shouldn't have hesitated between my butterfly leap and the aerial series," she said quietly, not caring if he heard her. Normally her thirst for Olympic connections was unquenchable and here he was a legitimate gold medalist standing right in front of her, approaching her and not the other way around, but the disappointment was overpowering and nothing could rouse her spirits._

"_Don't let it get to you, Keeler," he said, sitting down on the bench next to her. "You'll get her next year."_

"_Easy for you to say," she said with an eye roll. "You've got two more Olympic cycles. These next three years are my shot and I just blew one of them."_

_He snorted and took a sip of his drink, "You didn't blow anything. It's the system, the gymnastics establishment. I was watching you today, Keeler and you didn't lose because of a tenth of a point on beam or because Kelly Parker is a better gymnast than you."_

_She unclenched her hand from around the medal and it let fall around her neck, "Yeah?" she asked, turning towards him. "Then why did I lose?"_

"_Because you're too tough, too stoic, too serious. The NGO needs a National Champion that will sell lipgloss and toss her hair in shampoo commercials."_

"_You're saying I lost because Kelly Parker is prettier than me? Wow," she said, shaking her head. Why was she even listening to this garbage? Everyone knew Austin Tucker was a joke. He didn't take gymnastics seriously and got by on his natural talent alone._

_She began to stand, but his hand on her arm stopped her, "That's not what I'm saying, Keeler. What I'm saying is you have to relax, let yourself go a little, learn how to fly and stop performing like there's a gigantic stick up your…"_

"_Enough," she said, stopping his diatribe. "I get it. I'm not their cover girl. So, all-knowing God of gymnastics, what should I do about it?" she asked him sarcastically._

_He shrugged, "Screw them. Screw all of them. You should do gymnastics for you, work hard and come back next year and make them give you the title they should have given you this year."_

"_Work hard?" she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion. Everyone knew Austin Tucker didn't work hard. He put in what he had to and let his ability take care of everything else._

"_Let me let you in on a little secret, Keeler," he said, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "You don't win Olympic gold medals or World Championships or National titles hung over and you don't win them without working hard."_

_She pulled back looking him in the eye, "So then…why?" She gestured generally with her hands, indicating his reputation as the sport's bad boy._

_He shrugged, "It sells sunglasses and watches and gets me on magazine covers, which pays the bills."_

"_So you do care, you just act like you don't. That's insane," she said, laughing despite herself._

_Austin smiled, "Maybe, but it works for me and obviously wearing your heart on your sleeve, gritting your teeth, powering through didn't work for you, so like I said, Keeler, you should smile more, from what I just saw, you've got a great one and the judges eat that stuff up. Find what works for you and own it. Have fun and next year take what should have been yours."_

She hadn't believed him. Not at first, but then once she began working with Sasha and his words were eerily similar she thought that maybe he'd been on to something. So she tried it and found that a simple smile after a well executed routine might not do anything for her scores, but it did make her feel good, a small release in celebration of a job well done before moving onto the next apparatus.

Her phone vibrated on her nightstand, but before she could check it, Kaylie came into the room still looking put out.

"Hey," she said as her friend moved into the bathroom, likely to remove the mask she'd applied earlier.

"Hey" she called back, grabbing her phone and seeing a text message from a number she didn't recognize.

_Little birdy gave me your number. Good luck w/ the petition and SMILE!_

Payson snorted. A little birdy named MJ Martin, she guessed, knowing Austin was one of her many clients. She snapped her phone shut as Kaylie came back into the room drying her face gently with a towel.

"Who's that?" Kaylie asked, settling down onto her bed.

Payson shook her head, "No one, just setting my alarm." She flicked off the lamp next to her bed and settled deeper into her covers.

"Urg," Kaylie said, turning down her bed and climbing into it. "I still can't believe how much of a jerk Austin Tucker is. _That's why I don't date gymnasts_," she mocked and Payson furrowed her brow. Had he said that to Kaylie when he ran into her in the hallway? Ouch.

She ignored Kaylie's slip up and simply made a noise of agreement, "Yeah, he's a real jerk," she said. "Good night, Kaylie."

"Night Pay."

She fell asleep and woke somehow feel more fatigued than the day before and jet-lagged in the extreme. She tried to simply shake it off as they arrived at the arena for their training session.

"Tomorrow you'll share this venue with teams from France, Germany and Romania, but for the next ninety minutes, it's all yours. So use your practice time wisely," Ellen Beals said as they moved onto the competition floor.

"If it's all ours, what is _he_ doing here?" Kaylie asked, the disdain dripping off her every word.

Payson was on the other side of the group, but she looked towards her friend and inwardly rolled her eyes. Kaylie was the living breathing embodiment of the lady who doth protest too much.

"Distracted much?" Lauren quipped, her voice saccharine sweet.

"No," Kaylie said simply as Ellen Beal instructed them to get started.

"People! Tick-tock," she shouted and everyone scattered.

Austin dismounted the pommel horse he was working on and flipped his glasses down. Payson shook her head. _Who does that? Wearing sunglasses to train indoors?_

She moved to the floor and began to stretch. Of all the events, floor was easily the one she was the weakest on to this point, one of her former strengths. The sheer volume of skills necessary to get back to where she was before her injury had given her pause at first, but she knew she could do it.

The rest of the American athletes moved off to allow her time to train. The message was clear. She was on her own, but she didn't mind it, in fact she preferred it.

"So you never answered my text last night, Keeler," Austin said, hooking his gym bag over his shoulder.

"You texted me? I don't recall giving you my number." she said, keeping her eyes focused into the distance as she slid into a split and pointed her toes before bending her body over her knee.

Austin snorted at her deliberate ignorance, "Right. Listen, you know you only get one shot at this right? You don't have to petition, you can still…"

She cut him off, her eyes shooting up to his, her steely glare enough to silence him.

He raised his hands in defeat, much like he had the night before in the elevator. "Fine, you're the only one who knows if you're ready or not."

"Exactly," she said, standing and rotating her core muscles. Then she couldn't help it, her curiosity got the best of her, "You're done training already?"

He nodded, "Been here since five this morning, between you and me," he said, but his eyes drifted over to Kaylie as he spoke. "Listen I have tickets to the Green Day concert in Paris tonight, you don't think Kaylie would want to…"

Payson laughed outright at that. Austin shook his head, "Right," he said. "If I don't see you before tomorrow, good luck Keeler and don't forget to smile."

She wrinkled her nose, "You already wished me luck," she said.

"Oh so you did get my text?" he teased lightly and she shook her head at his antics. And as he turned and left, she couldn't help the smile that crept over her features. If Austin Tucker wasn't the definition of everything she despised, pretending to be one thing while he was in fact another, she might actually like the guy. They might even be friends.

"Okay, Payson, let's see it," Ellen Beals called from the other side of the floor and Payson nodded, moving into the corner of the mat, curling her toes into the familiar fabric before launching into a tumbling pass.

She worked for a solid fifteen minutes, feeling better and better as she landed her passes.

"Payson, I haven't seen your double pike yet," Beals said as she landed her sixth consecutive perfect pass in a row.

She furrowed her brow, "It's not compulsory," she said. She could feel the panic beginning in her stomach, but she didn't allow it to show on her face.

"I'm afraid it is. They added it. Is that going to be a problem?" Beals asked, her tone suggesting that it better not be.

"No," Payson said quickly, with a shake of her head. "No problem. I can do it."

And that's why she found herself limping down the hotel hallway hours later, her body exhausted, but her double pike ready for tomorrow. She stopped off at the ice machine and wrapped her aching knee, which she'd twisted about halfway through her solo practice and then made her way to Lauren and Emily's room where Kaylie said she'd be.

"Hey!" Kaylie said as she opened the door. "How'd it go? Did you nail the double pike?"

Payson nodded, "Yeah," she said, sitting down in the chair, resting her leg on Lauren's bed.

"So that's good, you're ready for tomorrow." Kaylie sat across from her.

Payson nodded again, adjusting her ice wrap when she looked around. "Hey, where's Emily?" The silence was deafening as Kaylie and Lauren exchanged meaningful looks. "What?"

"It's romantic, has great pastries and rhymes with faris," Lauren said, a wide smile across her face.

Her jaw dropped and she looked to Kaylie, "No, no she didn't. She did not go see Damon in Paris."

"She had to," Lauren protested.

"Had to?" Payson said in disbelief.

"To say goodbye," Kaylie explained, "just to get him out of her head."

"She doesn't have our focus, Payson," Lauren said, her tone condescending and superior. "We were just trying to make the best out of a bad situation."

"A bad situation? That's what you're going to call this?" She looked to Kaylie again. "What kind of leader are you? How could you let her do this? What if her train is late or Ellen Beals catchers her? She could get _suspended_."

"Let's just pray that doesn't happen," Lauren said, flicking through her magazine.

Payson stared at her, knowing she'd be thrilled if it did happen and a suspicion began to form in her mind.

"Come on, Emily. Where are you?" Kaylie asked outloud an hour later, checking her phone for the millionth time.

Payson snapped the magazine she'd taken from Lauren shut. She was exhausted, mentally and physically from the intense training she'd done all day. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to my room and I'm going to sleep. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a really big day tomorrow. This is why you don't run around the night before a meet," she said looking to Kaylie and shaking her head.

"It's not Kaylie's fault," Lauren said, "it's Emily's." Payson crossed her arms over her chest, skeptical of Lauren feeling any actual concern for anyone in this situation. "We planned it so she'd be back in plenty of time. She probably stayed to long with Damon."

"Would everyone just chill," Kaylie said, panic easily evident in her voice. "She'll be here."

Ellen Beals, of course, picked that exact moment to knock on the door and perform bed check. They covered reasonably well, but as Payson watched Lauren lie to Beals about Emily taking a shower, that niggling suspicion in the back of her mind pushed to the forefront again. Lauren was being just a little too helpful, especially since she stood to benefit from Emily getting caught.

As she and Kaylie made their way back to their room she could feel Kaylie's eyes on her. Payson knew she'd been harsh with her, but she also knew that she was right. If she had been team captain this _never_ would have happened. She would have helped Emily write an email to Damon or something, _anything_ else. When they arrived back in their room, Kaylie moved into the bathroom and Payson went straight for her cellphone charging on the nightstand.

She pulled up the text still in her inbox from the night before.

_You still in Paris?_ She texted it quickly and amazingly enough her responded almost immediately.

_At the metro station. Why?_

_Emily Kmetko, my teammate, she's in Paris and she's not back yet. Think she's probably still there. Beals can't catch her out after curfew. If you see her let me know?_

_Brunette, short hair, thin, pale but not pasty?_

_That's her. You found her?_

_Yeah. No worries, Keeler. I'll make sure she gets back._

_Thanks, Tucker._

He didn't respond again, but despite knowing Emily was still in Paris while Ellen Beals thought she was in the shower and knowing that her fate now likely rested with Austin Tucker, the self-proclaimed king of irresponsibility, Payson knew that he wouldn't go back on his word and he'd get Emily back to Calais.

Kaylie came back into the room and Payson briefly thought about assuaging her friend's worries, but then decided against it. First she'd have to explain how she had Austin Tucker's phone number and second and perhaps a little meanly, she wanted Kaylie to feel this. Emily never would have gone if Kaylie had put her foot down. It was an unwritten rule of gymnastics. While team captains didn't have any real authority, you listened to them simply because they were the captain. It was Emily's fault for going, but it was Kaylie's fault for allowing it.

"Good night, Pay," Kaylie said, flicking off her light, still looking deeply concerned as she climbed into bed.

"Night, Kaylie," she said as she rolled over and pulled the covers up to her chin, her head sinking into the soft pillow. She pushed all the drama and worry out of her mind as well as the constant ache in her knee as exhaustion finally took hold.

She was jerked out of her sleep, though it was light at best as her phone vibrated on the mattress next to her. She checked the message quickly.

_Got her back to hotel. Beals caught her just outside the elevator. Sorry, Keeler, I tried._

Payson scrunched her eyes shut and let out a deep sigh, half in relief that Emily was back safe and half in frustration that Beals caught her.

_Thanks Austin. See you tomorrow._

_Good luck, tomorrow, Keeler and don't forget to SMILE._

She sighed again and her eyes drifted closed as another pain shot through her knee. Her entire body was aching now and she was still exhausted. This was not how it was supposed to go. As she drifted to sleep again, the thought crossed her mind that the only smile she'd allow tomorrow would be after her petition was granted.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, so I'm obviously a big Payson Keeler fan, you all know that, so I'm biased, but I have to say the inconsistency with which she's treated on the show drives me crazy. One moment she's this huge gymnastics star, the next people seemingly don't know who she is (and she's not already on the national team, despite having finished 2nd the year before) and then the next Nastia Liukin, the sport's biggest star is saying, "It'll be great to have her back" and Carly Patterson is doing a video tribute for her. Then Austin Tucker, a big name, on the show at least has no idea who she is? Come on, MIOBI, be consistent!

Obviously, I also love the idea of these two being friends (and if she's not with Sasha, Paystin is my second fav. ship) so I thought I'd explore the events of season 2, episode, 2 "All or Nothing" and dig a little deeper. Another thing that bothered me, Austin Tucker did not recognize Kaylie Cruz or Payson, but he randomly recognized Emily in the middle of a train station? I know she was doing gymnastics, but people perform in train stations all the time and aren't elite gymnasts, so I decided that needed some explaining too. Just sayin'. I hope you enjoyed it and I know it's not a new chapter of NJYbA, but I promise, that'll be out tomorrow! Let me know what you think!


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